From Bamba's Win to JFK's Landslide Victory: 5 surprises from NPP's 2026 elections

The largest opposition political party in Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), held its national election to elect leaders who will run the party for the next four years and, most importantly, lead it into the 2028 general election. Nine men and a woman were elected to manage the affairs of the party together with its flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, a former Vice President of Ghana. The primaries, which were held on October 3, 2026, in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, produced several notable outcomes, with some results defying expectations and reshaping the party’s national leadership structure. From John Boadu’s victory in the closely contested chairmanship race to the performances of former party chairman Paul Afoko and former Second Vice Chairman Sammy Crabbe, the election generated several talking points among party supporters and political observers. Here are five major surprises from the election: 1. Kojo Bamba's victory: The most surprising outcome of the primaries is the emergence of Kwadwo Fosu Boadu, popularly known as Kojo Bamba, as the 1st Vice National Chairman of the NPP. Boadu, a former leader of a vigilante group linked to the NPP, topped the 13-candidate vice-chairmanship contest with 3,160 votes, beating the likes of former NPP National Organiser, Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) and Nana Akomea, a former Managing Director of Intercity STC Coaches Limited and ex-Minister of State. Nana B came second in the race with 3,061 votes, making him the 2nd Vice Chairman of the NPP, while Nana Akomea came third in the race, making him the 3rd Vice Chairman of the party. 2. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid's defeat: Another surprise outcome at the primaries is the defeat of Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, who also contested in the vice-chairmanship race. Dr Abdul-Hamid, a former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Minister of Information and spokesperson to former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, did not win any of the three seats available in the race. He finished fourth in the 13-candidate National Vice-Chairmanship race, polling 2,956 votes, which means that he missed out on the third and final vice-chairmanship slot by just 31 votes, with Nana Akomea securing the position with 2,987 votes. 3. John Boadu’s emphatic victory: Former General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, won the NPP chairmanship race with much more ease than expected, beating all the big names in the race. He pulled 2,888 votes to win the race, with his closest contender, former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko, pulling 2,408 votes. Former NPP national chairman, Paul Afoko, who also contested in the race, managed only 790 votes. Sammy Crabbe, a former vice national chairman of the party, performed even worse with only 41 votes. 4. JFK’s landslide victory: The General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Frimpong Kodua (JFK), retained his position with a massive margin of votes. Despite JFK being blamed for the party’s loss of over 50 seats in Parliament, he obtained 4,486 votes in the primaries, while his closest contender, former Deputy Information Minister Sylvester Tetteh, only managed 1,340 votes. The remaining candidates, former Member of Parliament for Subin, Eugene Boakye Antwi and Charles Dwamena, did not get even 200 votes. 5. Former National Executives who were kicked out: Several current National Executives of the NPP resoundingly lost the positions they contested in the primaries. L-R: Richard Ahiagbah, Chris Lloyd Nii Kwei Asamoah and Alhaji Masawudu Osman Notable among them is former 3rd Vice Chairman of the party, Alhaji Masawudu Osman, who sought to retain a national chairmanship position but lost massively. He pulled only 890 votes. Former National Director of Communication of the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah, who also contested in the 13-man vice-chairmanship race, lost with just 1,001 votes. Chris Lloyd Nii Kwei Asamoah, a Deputy National Youth Organiser, lost his bid to become the National Youth Organiser. He managed to pull only 46 of the total votes cast. BAI/VPO Inside Ghana’s Abandoned Engineering Powerhouse: What Went Wrong? Source: www.ghanaweb.com
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